Adobe Intros Fusion-Supported Flash Player 10.2

Adobe released a new Flash Player that provides high-definition content while barely touching the CPU.

Wednesday Adobe announced the release of Flash Player 10.2 for Windows, Mac and Linux. The new edition includes Stage Video, a full hardware accelerated video-pipeline for bringing high-quality video across all browsers and platforms. The new release also brings to the table custom native mouse cursors, multiple monitor full-screen support, Internet Explorer 9 hardware accelerated rendering support, and enhanced sub-pixel rendering for superior text readability.

“Flash Player using Stage Video can effortlessly play beautiful 1080p HD video with just 1 to 15-percent CPU usage on a common Mac or Windows computer,” said Adobe’s Tom Nguyen in his blog Wednesday. “Working across platforms and browsers, it will enable the best video experience for the most people. Many millions of additional PCs, from netbooks to desktops, can now become slick HD home theaters on the web.”

Nguyen added that Web surfers won’t see the improvement immediately, as websites and content providers will first need to update their video players. Developers will also need to update their SWF player files to support the new feature, but changes to existing video libraries and infrastructures won’t be necessary. Vimeo, Brightcove and YouTube have already started the process of enabling support for Stage Video, he said.